Free amino acids in the blood of fetal and maternal Weddell seals

1982 ◽  
Vol 242 (1) ◽  
pp. R85-R88
Author(s):  
B. J. Murphy ◽  
P. W. Hochachka ◽  
W. M. Zapol ◽  
G. C. Liggins

The content of free amino acids in whole blood was measured in near-term gravid female Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddelli) and compared with fetal amino acid profiles during rest and during experimental diving. With the exception of taurine and glutathione, Ninhydrin-reactive components of acid extracts of blood occurred in higher concentrations on the fetal side of the placenta than on the maternal side. Compared with humans the Weddell seal displayed higher ratios of fetal arterial to maternal arterial levels for aspartate, glycine, alanine, valine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, and total branched-chain amino acids. In the resting state the total free amino acid concentration in maternal blood was only about 70% as large as the total amino acid concentration in fetal blood, compared with a value of over 80% for humans. Only modest changes in the concentrations of specific amino acids occurred during simulated awake diving, but the overall maternal pools of glycine, glutamate, and glutamine were augmented, creating favorable conditions for uptake by the fetus.

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (12) ◽  
pp. 2989-2992
Author(s):  
Borche Makarijoski ◽  
Gordana Dimitrovska ◽  
Vesna K. Hristova ◽  
Elena Joshevska ◽  
Mahmoud A. Abdelaziz Mahmoud ◽  
...  

The present work is focussed to determine the Macedonian white brined cheese’s free amino acid profile. Four variants of the Macedonian white brined cheese to analyze and determine free amino acid concentration; cheese samples define the Macedonian white brined cheese as a typical cheese. All free amino acids were specified, except the amino acid tyrosine. The detected amino acids in the tested cheese variants were present in different but approximate parameter values. The estimated essential free amino acids, the concentration of lysine was found highest in all examined samples with values from 26.40 ± 0.02 mg% to 28.20 ± 0.04 mg% and the concentration of threonine was the lowest from 3.19 ± 0.02 mg% to 3.32 ± 0.02 mg%). In the detected unessential free amino acids, the concentration of aspartic amino acid was highest in all the samples with values from 11.02 ± 0.05 mg% to 11.32 ± 0.03 mg% and the concentration of proline was at the lowest level from 4.16 ± 0.06 mg% to 4.22 ± 0.04 mg%.


1976 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-230
Author(s):  
P. G. Lunn ◽  
R. G. Whitehead ◽  
B. A. Baker

1. Free amino acid concentrations in the plasma have been compared with those in liver and quadriceps muscle, in rats fed on diets containing 209 (control) and 31 (low-protein) g protein/kg. The effects of the low-protein diet on diurnal variations in these values were also measured.2. In the plasma, the total amino acid concentration was significantly lower in animals given the low-protein diet, at all times of day except 12.00 hours. In the liver, and to a lesser extent the muscle, total amino acid concentration was maintained.3. In the control animals, diurnal variation in the concentrations of both essential and non-essential amino acids was very similar in plasma, liver and muscle. In animals given the low-protein diet, although the same diurnal pattern was maintained for non-essential amino acids, that occurring among the essential amino acids had virtually disappeared.4. In plasma, the mean 24 h concentration of essential amino acids decreased from 24· mmol/l in control animals to only 1·29 mmol/l in the low-protein-fed animals. Concentrations in muscle and liver were reduced by a similar proportion (from 8·6 to 5·56 μmol/g and from 8·67 to 5·05 μmol/g respectively). Conversely the concentrations of non-essential amino acids in animals given the low-protein diet were increased in plasma (from 1·53 to 2·00 mmol/l), muscle (from 12·5 to 14·3 μmol/g), and liver (from 16·8 to 20·5 μmol/g), muscle showing the lowest increase.5. With the exceptions of lysine, threonine, cystine and tyrosine, the concentrations of all other essential amino acids were reduced more in liver than in muscle. The relationship between this and the failure to maintain plasma albumin concentrations is discussed.


HortScience ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 796C-796
Author(s):  
Guihong Bi* ◽  
Carolyn Scagel ◽  
Lailiang Cheng ◽  
Leslie Fuchigami

June-budded `Nonpareil/Nemaguard' almond (Prunus dulcis (Mill) D.A. Webb) trees were fertigated with one of five nitrogen (N) concentrations (0, 5, 10, 15, or 20 mm) in a modified Hoagland's solution from July to September. In October, the trees were sprayed twice with either water or 3% urea, then harvested after natural leaf fall and stored at 2°C. Trees were destructively sampled during winter storage to determine their concentrations of amino acids, protein, and non-structural carbohydrates (TNC). Increasing N supply either via N fertigation during the growing season or with foliar urea applications in the fall increased the concentrations of both free and total amino acids, whereas decreased their C/N ratios. Moreover, as the N supply increased, the proportion of nitrogen stored as free amino acids also increased. However, protein was still the main form of N used for storage. The predominant amino acid in both the free and total amino-acid pools was arginine. Arginin N accounted for an increasing proportion of the total N in both the free and total amino acids as the N supply was increased. However, the proportion of arginine N was higher in the free amino acids than in the total amino acids. A negative relationship was found between total amino acid and non-structural carbohydrate concentrations, suggesting that TNC is increasingly used for N assimilation as the supply of N increases. Urea applications decreased the concentrations of glucose, fructose, and sucrose, but had little influence on concentrations of sorbitol and starch. We conclude that protein is the primary form of storage N, and that arginine is the predominant amino acid. Furthermore, the synthesis of amino acids and proteins comes at the expense of non-structural carbohydrates.


1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 845-853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa A. Davis ◽  
Hanh V. Nguyen ◽  
Roselina Garcia-Bravo ◽  
Marta L. Fiorotto ◽  
Evelyn M. Jackson ◽  
...  

To determine whether the amino acid composition of milk changes during lactation, we compared the amino acid pattern (concentration of each individual amino acid relative to the total amino acid concentration) of colostrum with that of mature milk in six mammalian species. In the human, horse, pig and cow, the pattern of amino acids changed between colostrum and mature milk: glutamate, proline, methionine, isoleucine and lysine increased; cystine, glycine, serine, threonine and alanine decreased. In these four species, the total amino acid concentration also decreased 75% between colostrum and mature milk. In the baboon (Papio cynocephalus anubis and Papio cynocephalus anubis/Papio cynocephalus cynocephalus) and rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), however, there was little change in the pattern of amino acids between colostrum and mature milk, and total amino acid concentration decreased only about 25% between colostrum and mature milk. Mature milk rather than colostrum was the most similar among the three primates in both amino acid pattern and total amino acid concentration. We conclude, in those species in which total amino acid concentrations decline substantially between colostrum and mature milk, amino acid patterns also change. The presence of a change in amino acid pattern and total amino acid concentration during lactation appears to be unrelated to phylogenetic order.


1971 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Ford ◽  
C. Shorrock

1. Freeze-dried cod muscle and casein were subjected to various conditions of heat treat-ment. Diets containing the different products, or the unheated materials, were given to a group of four adult male rats during successive 48 h periods, and urine was collected during the second 24 h of each 48 h period. A further collection of urine was made from the rats after they had been given protein isolated from heated skim-milk powder. The content and amino acid composition of the ‘peptide’ and ‘free amino acids’ in the urines were determined.2. Heat damage to the cod-fillet protein increased the total urinary excretion of peptide-bound amino acids, from 18·6 to 48·8 µmol/rat.d. The composition of the peptide also changed, and in particular there was a marked increase in lysine, from 2·98 to 20·30 µmol %. Three amino acids - lysine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid - together comprised nearly 70 % of the total amino acid residues. There was a corresponding increase in urinary excretion of free amino acids, from 53·7 to I 14·4 µmol/rat.d. The combined losses of lysine in urinary peptide and free amino acids were 1·5 % of the total lysine ingested, as against 0·3 % for the unheated cod fillet.3. The effects of similar heat treatment of casein on the composition of the urinary peptide and free amino acids were less marked. There was no increase in total urinary peptide excretion and there was a smaller increase in the lysine content of the peptide.4. In urine of rats given protein isolated from heated skim-milk powder, the peptide hydro-lysate was rich in lysine and in furosine, which together comprised 41 mol % of the total amino acid composition. These compounds were presumably formed, together with a smaller quantity of pyridosine, from lysine-carbohydrate complex in the urine. It is probable that, as compared with free lysine, the lysine-carbohydrate complex was absorbed relatively in-efficiently from the rat intestine.5. The findings are discussed in relation to the wider question of the metabolism of the ‚unavailable peptide’ that is released in the course of digestion of heat-damaged protein.


1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (22) ◽  
pp. 2639-2649 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Cherry ◽  
Clyde T. Young ◽  
Larry R. Beuchat

Protein and amino acid composition of peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) inoculated with Aspergillus parasiticus Speare were compared with those of non-infected seeds during an 18-day test period to determine metabolic changes within this interrelationship. The levels of buffer-soluble proteins of infected peanuts decreased rapidly to quantities much lower than those of non-infected seeds shortly after inoculation. Simultaneously, the levels of insoluble proteins increased to quantities greater than those contained in soluble fractions. Gel electrophoresis of soluble extracts from inoculated peanuts showed that proteins were hydrolyzed to many small-molecular-weight components, which eventually disappeared as fungal growth progressed. A corresponding increase in quantity of most free amino acids was observed shortly after inoculation of the peanuts. Major changes in free amino acid content coincided with substantial alterations of proteins in both soluble and insoluble fractions. These data suggested that inoculation of peanuts with A. parasiticus initiated a sequence of events whereby proteins were hydrolyzed first to small polypeptides and (or) insoluble components, then to free amino acids. After extended periods of infection, levels of free amino acids varied from day to day, suggesting that differential utilization of these components by the fungus was occurring. Quantities of total amino acids in whole seeds and soluble and insoluble fractions were different for non-inoculated and inoculated peanuts. Distinct differences were especially notable among samples of these three fractions of inoculated seeds. Differences in total amino acid contents apparently reflect qualitative and quantitative changes in proteins and (or) polypeptides present in various fractions examined during the infection period.


1976 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. R. Chavez ◽  
H. S. Bayley

1. The influence of a 24 h fast on the concentrations of free amino acids in the plasma, and upon the oxidation rates of methionine, isoleucine and threonine was studied (using early weaned, 4-week-old piglets which were receiving a semi-purified diet.2. There was no change in the total concentration of the essential amino acids as a result of the 24 h fast: the concentration of the branched-chain amino acids increased, but the effect of this was offset by decreases in the concentrations of arginine, histidine, lysine, methionine and phenylalanine. There was a reduction in the concentration of the non-essential amino acids.3. The piglets received infusions of L-[1-14C]methionine, L-[U-14C]isoleucine and L-[U-14C]threonine, and the recovery of the label in carbon dioxide was determined. Less than 5% of the activity from methionine was recovered in the CO2 from the fed piglets, whereas 12% was recovered from the fasted piglets. The corresponding values with threonine were 11 and 19% but there was no effect of fasting on the recovery of the label from isoleucine in CO2.4. The initial dilution of a single dose of a labelled amino acid infused into the bloodstream depends on the plasma concentration of the amino acid. Nutritional regimens may effect the free amino acid concentration in the plasma. Thus comparisons based upon direct determination of activity recovered in CO2 from the labelled dose of an amino acid with animals on different nutritional regimens could be misleading, unless the differences in the concentrations of the amino acid in the plasma are considered.


2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Brodzki ◽  
Piotr Brodzki ◽  
Maria Szpetnar ◽  
Marcin R. Tatara

Abstract The aim of the study was to determine serum free amino acid concentration in male dogs suffering from benign and malignant perianal tumours. Serum concentrations of cysteic acid, glutamic acid, glutamine, aspartic acid, glycine, γ-aminobutyric acid, tryptophan, methionine, arginine, taurine, threonine, tyrosine, alanine, valine, isoleucine, and leucine were significantly changed in dogs suffering from benign and/or malignant tumours when compared to the control group (P<0.05). Serum concentration of serine, phenylalanine, lysine and histidine was not influenced in dogs with neoplastic disease (P>0.05). The evaluation of serum free amino acid concentration, has shown that threonine, glutamic acid, alanine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, γ-aminobutyric acid, and glycine have the highest diagnostic and prognostic value in dogs suffering from benign and malignant perianal tumours. Highly diagnostic and prognostic value in relation to benign tumour growth was also found while evaluating branched chain and acidic groups of amino acids. Serine, phenylalanine, lysine, and histidine, as well as alkaline amino acids were proved not to have diagnostic and prognostic value in dogs with the tumours. Thus, the evaluation of free amino acid concentration may serve diagnostic purposes and help in tumour malignancy differentiation. The elaborated experimental model may be used in further studies on neoplastic disease development and monitoring of applied treatment efficiency.


1981 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Murphy ◽  
P. W. Hochachka

The blood content of free amino acids was measured in the Antarctic Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddelli) to assess their possible role in energy metabolism during simulated diving and recovery sequences. The total free amino acid pool size was similar to that in the common harbour seal and in man, but there were a few notable differences in amino acid contributions to the total pool. For example, in the Weddell seal alanine concentrations were unusually low. During diving, the content of free amino acids in whole blood changed hardly at all, unless glutathione levels also changed. In 5 of 10 dive sequences examined, glutathione was markedly depleted during diving, concomitant with a sharp rise in glutamate and glycine released on hydrolysis of this tripeptide. During recovery, glutathione levels were recharged quite rapidly. About half the glutamate and glycine expected from glutathione hydrolysis was expressed by elevated levels of these two amino acids; similarly, only a part of the glutathione reformed during recovery was represented by decreasing glutamate and glycine levels. The only other significant changes in amino acid levels during recovery were shown by alanine and glutamine, both of which increased in whole blood for periods of about 30–60 min. It was concluded that under most simulated diving conditions, free amino acid pools and profiles are not strongly perturbed. Metabolic conditions may arise, however, leading to large drops in glutathione levels, which in turn may perturb the free amino acid pool.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
Ryszard Kosson

The contribution of cotyledons, embryo and testa to the whole seed, was analyzed in the bean cultivar, Wiejska. The total nitrogen content and amino acid composition of morphological parts of the seed were determined. The average amino acid composition of globulins and albumins and the content of free amino acids in seeds of six Polish cultivars were estimated as well. It was found that the embryo contained the highest quantity of total nitrogen and the lowest of protein nitrogen. The exogenous amino acid content in the embryo was higher than in cotyledons and testa. Both albumins and globulins were shown to contain 42% exogenous amino acids. The content of methionine - the first limiting amino acid of bean proteins - did not exceed 0.30% of the total amino acid content in albumins and globulins. Free glutamic and aspartic acids made up more than 60% of the total free amino acids.


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